If we were having coffee…

If we were having coffee, I’d give you a great big hug (if you’re a hugger) and wish you a very Happy 2016! I’d ask how you rounded out your year, if you did anything special on New Year’s Eve, and if you make resolutions for the New Year?

I’d then tell you that while I didn’t ring in 2016 nice and cozy in my bed like my boring self wanted to, it was only because our toddler decided to take a nap at 6:00 and be up the celebrate the New Year herself! Ha!

If we were having coffee, depending on when the last time we chatted was, you might ask me if Mama Mello was bred…and I’d have to say that we don’t yet know for sure! Though we should know in another few days based on whether or not she goes into heat again. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know as soon as I know! Trust me, I’m counting the days!

However, I can tell you with absolute certainty that Akuna is in heat and it is a nightmare keeping her contained and the village dogs off the property! I don’t have any previous experience with dogs who haven’t been fixed, so I also don’t have a lot of patience for it all. I’m really looking forward to this being over and then beginning to look for a male to breed her with intentionally the next time she comes around, probably mid to late spring.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my break from work over the holidays was so good…and so needed…and so enlightening. There was reading (of an actual book!) and organizing (the pantry and hobbit closet, I got a start on the office closet, E’s closet and drawers and toys, the tea and spice cabinet…), and I spent about a million hours doing laundry. There was also some dreaming and scheming on all kinds of homestead topics as well as some intentional offline time and musings about my self imposed ADD around technology and the necessity of turning off the various screens more often in order to listen to the whispers of my spirit and the rhythm of my family.

Oh, and of course there was some time spent listening to music, new and old to me! I’d truly wilt in a world without music and am currently enjoying some of this, and this among other things 🙂 Although, I love the Elastic Heart song itself, the video is weird. Shia LaBeouf makes me wonder if he is brilliant or simply mad with his various antics and videos these days…Hmmm…

Anyhow…

I might now mention that, despite my best intentions, I haven’t finished my big triptych painting yet, but hope to today so I get that bad boy up on the wall in the dining area before the end of the weekend! I promise to take a billion pictures of it once it’s completed to show you next time we chat!

Tell me, did you enjoy some time off over the holidays? I sure hope so!!! What did you do to occupy your time and feed your spirit?

If we were having coffee, I’d no doubt mention how I also spent some time in December really reflecting on our year and got it all down into a single Year End  post, which amazed, inspired, and exhausted me all at once! Man, 2015 was busy!

It was really nice to look back on all of my blog posts and be reminded of everything that happened since it sometimes all seems to blend together when you’re in the middle of it!

The process of pulling together that post also got me thinking about this space and how I’d like to approach the coming year. Part of me has always wanted the have some sort of regular schedule for posting…or a set number of posts I aim for weekly…or, in an ideal world, the ability to post every single day! But the reality of my life doesn’t easily allow for this as the people, animals, and poultry take precedence…as does my paying j.o.b.

And so I’ll just keep this space as organic (and enjoyable) as possible, posting what I can, when I can 🙂

I did, however, send out my first Newsletter in many, many months and aim to send something simple out once a month to keep in touch with all of the readers who don’t necessarily visit or comment regularly but still want to keep in touch.

Also, this has happened over the past few days… Close to 2 million people have seen this silly goat gif on my blog’s Facebook page which has brought in close to 2,000 new likes on the page and a bit of actual blog traffic. So funny what people respond to on social media, ha?

If we were having coffee, I’d have to finish up my cuppa and and tell you it’s time to go! It was wonderful catching up with you and I so look forward to seeing you again very, very soon!

I hope 2016 starts off just beautifully for you and yours!

xoxo,
M

Linking up to Part Time Monster’s #WeekendCoffeeShare